Dental hygiene goes beyond brushing twice a day and the occasional visit to the dentist, according to experts.

Speaking to body+soul magazine, Sydney-based holistic dental surgeon Dr Nader Malik explained that the state of our mouth can often indicate other health issues such as acid reflux or the risk of heart disease.

"The teeth and the entire mouth give us important clues as to what may be happening in a person's body," Dr Malik told the News Limited source yesterday (January 24).

The Queensland government has unveiled a comprehensive new plan to replace the outgoing health body - whose abolishment was revealed in December.

In an announcement by premier Anna Bligh on January 21, the government has received a final report regarding the plan, which outlines the creation of two smaller agencies - Health and Hospitals Queensland (HHQ) and Health Corporate Services Authority (HCSA).

The federal government's plan to means test the private health insurance rebate may be in doubt, after independent MP Andrew Wilkie indicated that he was withdrawing his support.

"Because a lot of time has passed since then, I now need to look afresh at that issue and look afresh at the evidence I had then and see if there is any new evidence," he told News Limited today (January 20).

Federal health minister Tanya Plibersek has responded to the latest annual report from the Private Health Insurance Administration Council released yesterday (January 18)

The independent regulator of the industry found that not only were 45.3 per cent of Australians covered by hospital treatment insurance at June 30 2011, but more public hospital cases were being covered by insurance.

The federal government has made a draft National Mental Health Reform plan available for public consultation.

The announcement was made by the minister for mental health and ageing Mark Butler - in conjunction with minister for families Jenny Macklin - today (January 17).

The 42-page draft roadmap comes after an agreement was reached by the Council of Australian Governments last August to designate representatives from each state and territory to better develop a national focus on mental health.

Public hospitals in South Australia are struggling to cope with elective surgeries demands, causing the number of patients treated within an acceptable time to deteriorate over the past 12 months, according to the opposition government.

State shadow minister for health and ageing Martin Hamilton-Smith believes that based on new figures, the number of urgent elective surgery patients who had not received treatment within the 30 day timeframe had increased by one per cent since the last financial year.